AI is finding cybersecurity’s cracks that America’s enemies are waiting to exploit

For years, the internet has been running on a sprawling collection of software that most people never see and few executives could explain. It is the digital plumbing behind websites, businesses, government services, and countless everyday transactions.

Now artificial intelligence is helping researchers discover serious weaknesses in that plumbing. The recent PHP vulnerability crisis exposed how dangerous a hidden flaw can become when it sits inside software used across the internet. Researchers uncovered vulnerabilities that could allow attackers to take control of affected servers. Governments and organizations scrambled to patch systems, and some websites were temporarily taken offline.